The Runaways
by Storytellers Inc
Summary: She had a choice either run away or be sold; he had a choice either run away or die. ErikxOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Erik could hear the angry mob approaching and quickly stepped through the shattered mirror. He walked to where he kept Caesar and put the saddle on the horse's back. Behind the saddle he put two bags of clothing that would last him around two weeks. Erik grabbed his spare wig and mask and placed it upon his face to hide his deformity and pulled the hood of his cloak over the raven colored hair of his wig and pulled it further to hide his mask. He lifted himself onto the saddle and urged the horse into a full gallop; he knew he had to get out of Paris and he knew just where to go. Madame Giry had a house by the sea about a mile away from the closest town; that is where he would stay she had no use for it anymore, Meg was engaged to a nice young man and would soon be living with him, Madame Giry was more likely to stay at her apartment in Paris in order to stay close to her daughter. Erik turned Caesar towards the west and nudged the horse with his heels, gently, telling the horse to run.

On the other side of Paris, about thirty streets from the opera house; at the oldest orphanage in Paris, twenty-seven year old Annabelle, one of the oldest orphans there, was listening in on a conversation between Ms. Le Clare and some man that looked as if he hadn't washed in three days. "So you've finally decided to take me up on my offer ma'am." The man said slyly to Ms. Le Clare. "Yes, I will give you two girls that have absolutely no hope of finding parents." replied the old woman. 'This man is obviously a whore monger.' Annabelle thought as she put the pieces of the puzzle together in her head. Annabelle knew that she was one of the two girls to be sold but who was the other? "Describe them to me and give me their names." The man told Le Clare with a disgusting smile on his face.

"The first one is Annabelle, she has fine long wavy blonde hair and silver eyes; the other is Lily with dark brown curly that ends at her shoulder and she has green eyes." Le Clare answered 'No, no, not Lily she's just a baby.' Annabelle thought as tears silently fell from her eyes. "And their ages?" the man asked "Annabelle is twenty-seven and Lily is five or six or maybe even seven." Le Clare replied. "You don't pay much attention to birthdays do you old woman?" the man laughed "I have no time to pay attention to the birthdays of orphans who have no chance of getting adopted." Le Clare huffed. 'That bitch, how dare she try and sell us to this bastard! I have to get Lily away from here.' Annabelle thought, but where would they go. 'The sea' she thought 'Lily has always wanted to go visit the sea.'

Annabelle quickly ran back to her room and packed everything she could such as: her botany book, compass, flint and steel, her revolver, her map of the stars, her sword, and her archers bow. She had mastered any art of self defense she could think of to keep Lily safe. Annabelle remembered that stormy night five years ago when Lily was born. Lily's mother's name was Marianna; she died shortly after giving birth to Lily but not before making Annabelle promise to keep Lily safe. "Please promise me that you will keep her safe, I do not want my child to be alone or go through the same life style I have suffered." Marianna's voice shot through Annabelle's memory "I leave my little Lily in your care, Miss Annabelle, please promise me." She begged as she gave Lily to Annabelle. Annabelle remembered looking down at the tiny infant in her arms then back at Marianna "Yes, I promise." She told her, Marianna smiled and let death take her.

As Annabelle put her midnight blue cloak over her black riding pants and loose midnight blue long sleeved shirt she remembered when Lily's eyes first looked at her moments after her mother died "Do not worry little one I will protect you always, for as long as I live no one will ever hurt you." She swore to the baby. Annabelle pulled the hood of her cloak over her head so no one would be able to see her face. Then she walked over to Lily's bed and started packing all of her clothes and her favorite story books. "Lily wake up honey, we have to get you dressed." Annabelle gently woke the sleeping child "Is it morning already?" she asked drowsily. "No, we're going to take a midnight stroll with Aztec." Annabelle giggled, to her Lily was cute no matter what.

Annabelle quickly helped Lily into a forest green dress and a thick dark green winter cloak; she noticed the colors that they both wore really brought out the color of their eyes. "Here you can go back to sleep while we're riding." She told Lily as she got up on the saddle of the white Clydesdale behind Lily "I'll tie you to me so you won't fall off okay?" Lily nodded sleepily. Annabelle quickly nudged Aztec into a run and headed westward.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Erik was in the middle of a forest about eight or ten miles outside of Paris when he heard the sound of another horse close by.

"Aztec, what's wrong?" the voice of a woman asked the animal.

He reined Caesar towards the voice, when he was close enough to see but remain hidden he saw a white horse whose owner was standing in front of him calmly stroking his snout with a thin hand clad in a black glove.

'What on earth is this woman doing out here so late in the night.' He wondered.

Erik noticed that the woman looked down at her right leg as if someone else was there. Quietly he eased himself off of his saddle and slowly approached to get a better look at whoever she was now whispering to.

As he did he saw something clad in dark green wrapped around her thigh. Just when Erik was almost behind the white horse, he saw what was clinging to the woman's leg. It was a little girl who looked to be about five years old with brown curly hair, not as curly as Christine's though. Christine, the mere thought of her sent a sharp pain through his shattered heart. She had chosen that FOP instead of him and showed him nothing but pity and fear!

"Do you see anything Lily?" the woman in a cloak of midnight blue with the hood over her head asked the child brushing the child's curly bangs out of her eyes.

The child, Lily, shook her head tiredly. The woman began to rummage through her saddle bags; Erik moved to get an even closer look at the woman's face, but soon regretted it when his stepped on a twig with a loud snap.

**(Annabelle's P.O.V. finally)**

I heard the sound of a twig snap; I quickly got myself and Lily as far away from the sound as possible "Lily stay close to me okay." I told her unsheathing my sword; I will only use the revolver if it is really needed. Lily wrapped her arms around my leg and pressed her face against the side of my thigh.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" I shouted to the darkness of the forest.

"What are two young girls such as you doing wandering around in these woods at this hour?" asked a very melodious tenor voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere, from every direction.

"Sir I am twenty-seven years old and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now come out of the darkness so that I may see what odds I am up against." I ordered.

"Very well, as long as you show me what odds I am up against." The voice said.

"Fine, on the count of three," I told him "One." I continued

"Two." He said

"…Three."

We said at the same time. I pulled off my hood and he came out of the darkness pulling off the hood of his cloak.

**(Erik's P.O.V.)**

I watched as the young midnight-hooded traveler revealed her identity. She had eyes of starlight silver and hair the color of a wheat field reflecting the light of the full moon. Her eyes examined me starting with my eyes then at my clothes, then at my mask, then back at my blue eyes once more.

"You look well fit for a single mother."

_ 'That was a stupid comment!'_ I scolded myself.

Confusion formed in her features until she understood why I said that.

"Lily is not my child but she is like a sister and a daughter to me. Before her mother died I made a promise, and that is a promise I shall never break!" She yelled as she lashed her sword out at me.

To say I was surprised by her strength would be an understatement. I blocked her attempt to hit me, as the fight went on the woman moved with much ease despite the fact that she had a child clinging to her leg.

"You have had much practice haven't you?" I asked between breaths.

"Ever since Lily was born," she panted as I tried to lay a blow to her sword arm.

"So how old were you when your mother died?" I asked as she lashed out at me

"How do you know that she's dead?" she retorted I could see she was surprised.

"I could see the sadness and understanding in your eyes when you spoke of Lily losing her mother." I replied blocking her attempt to slice my left knee.

"My mother died twenty years ago when I was seven. She died a widow with no family to give me to so I was left to rot in an orphanage. No one wanted to adopt me!" she growled as our swords clashed we pushed all of our weight against each others swords and stared at each other.

"Why do I feel like I've met you before?" I thought aloud.

"For some reason I have been feeling the same thing." She pushed me away from her. I stumbled a little but froze where I stood when I heard the distinct sound of a bullet clicking into place.

I stared into her eyes as she pointed the gun at my head. "This is why I suspected you were Lily's mother, though you bear no relation or resemblance to her, you are very protective of her." I chuckled at my predicament; I could have sworn I saw a small blush come to her cheeks. Her face turned stone cold in a matter of seconds; I gulped as she cocked the gun. So many emotions were in her eyes at that moment that I actually thought she was close to firing it.

"Annabelle." Lily intervened, at that moment I saw Annabelle's eyes fill with tears.

"Yes Lily?" she….Annabelle asked the her without taking the gun or her eyes away from my face.

"Don't shoot him mama, maybe he could help us." The child suggested softly.

Annabelle and I just stared at Lily, then she looked at me and removed the gun and put it in her boot where it obviously came from in the first place

"Very well then Lily, if you want to trust him, fine; but I will remain cautious," she told the child then gave me an I-still-will-kill-you-if-you-try-anything-stupid glare.

**A./N.**

**Hey everyone sorry I'm late but here is chapter 2 and fear not fledglings all will be revealed. Just have patience with me – The Imagineer **


	3. Chapter 3

**A./N. I am truly sorry for my tardiness on posting this chapter I can truthfully tell you that all the blame can go to AuthoressExtraordinaire for hogging the laptop :{**

Chapter 3

**(Erik's POV)**

"If you will allow me, Miss Annabelle, I think we should reintroduce ourselves formally." I suggested; Annabelle held out her hand to me, I took it, but before I could bring it to my lips she pulled it away.

"We will introduce ourselves youngest to oldest." She stated.

I knelt down to match Lily's height, she held out her hand and I took it gently into mine. She curtsied gracefully and looked me in the eyes.

"My name is Lily." She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lily, I am Erik Destler." I told her.

**(Annabelle's POV)**

He stood up and looked at me kindly;

"You have taught her well on formal introductions." he said.

"Thank you, I am very proud of her, everyday." I told him. I held out my hand to him and he took it cautiously.

"Monsieur, my name is Annabelle and it has been so long that my last name is forgotten to me. I must say though, you are very skilled with a sword." I added.

"As are you Mademoiselle." He replied smirking, I did the same. Then he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it delicately. His lips felt so warm and soft on my skin, I felt a shiver race down my spine at his touch. Erik let go of my hand and looked at me.

"I apologize for startling you both; I only hope that you can forgive me." Before I could reply we heard Lily yawn from beside me. We both looked down to see her leaning against my leg rubbing her eyes with one hand while the other was wrapped around my leg. I laughed quietly and took her into my arms then looked back at Erik, who was gently smiling.

"Apology accepted; I forgive you." I told him "Do you have a horse Monsieur?" I asked him as I walked towards Aztec.

"Yes I do, I shall bring him." he answered then quickly walked into the shadows. A few moments after I had settled myself and Lily on Aztec's saddle Erik came back. He was on the saddle of a beautiful black stallion and walking towards Lily and I on our white horse; all of our hoods, including Lily's, were pulled over our heads but we did not hide our faces from each other.

When Erik came to the right side of my horse he looked at me then back at his horse.

"His name is Caesar." He patted the horse's neck tenderly.

I smiled at the horse; "Caesar, I would like you to meet my companions; this is Aztec and this is Lily, my little girl -" I patted Aztec's neck and then looked down at my little flower "Who happens to be asleep." I added, laughing slightly, I heard Erik chuckle as well. I urged Aztec to walk

"So where are you two heading?" he asked after catching up with me.

"Lily has always wanted to go to the seaside so that is where I am taking her." I told him "I've have shown her many paintings of the sea shore at the Paris Library where I work, or where I use to work anyway." I added.

"I am traveling to the sea as well, but what about you? Where do _you_ dream of going?" he asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but closed it, I couldn't think of what I dreamed of for most of my dreams were crushed because of my place in society as an orphan.

"I used to dream of being part of a family again but that dream was crushed when I turned fourteen, once I started working at the library when I turned seventeen I dreamed of finding love but no man would love a girl without a dowry or land to attain, so I gave up on that dream saying 'True love is only fickle emotions you find in fairytales.' It was when Lily was born that I had a new purpose, a new dream where I would get Lily and myself far away from that dreadful orphanage." I explained; Erik merely nodded.

"Since you are a librarian, I must ask, who is you favorite writer?" Erik asked; I smirked.

"Shakespeare, but in the days before Lily was born I confided in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and you?" I answer him.

"Same here I enjoyed reading all of their works." Erik replied smiling, after a few moments of silence he asked "Do you know where you will be staying when you have reached the seaside?"

Upon hearing this I halted Aztec, 'Where would we stay?' I thought, and the only money I had was to buy essential things such as food and other supplies. I sadly shook my head looking down at Lily and smiled weakly, a small tear ran down my face.

**(Erik's POV)**

I watched a tear come down from her eye, it shined in the moonlight like a diamond, I gently brought my leather gloved hand to her cheek and wiped away the crystal-like liquid.

"Well then, until you can find a place for yourself and for the child you will stay with me, I am residing in a cottage by the sea and I know for a fact it has plenty of room." I told her. Annabelle opened her mouth to protest against it but I held up hand motioning for her to not speak.

"This decision is final, how would I be a man if I had no heart." I said sternly.

"As you wish then." She replied; she had seemed a little stunned when I told her the decision was final. We began to ride once more.

**A./N. I am very proud of this chapter except for the fact the Annabelle kind acts rather submissive towards the end, do not fret fledglings she will be back to normal in no time. I think. I would like to thank judybear236 who always finds my stupid mistakes. THANK YOU JB236!**

**Jareth: When do I show up?**

**Imagineer: Jareth this isn't your story, you are only here to give me moral support.**

**4****th**** Doctor (Doctor Who): Would you like a Jelly Baby?**

**Imagineer: Thanks Doc.**

**All: PLEASE REVIEW**

**Loki: And KNEEL!**

**Imagineer: You have serious issues my love. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Annabelle's POV**

We were nearing an incline of a decent sized hill when I finally decided to ask.

"Erik,"

"Yes?" he turned his head towards me as we rode side by side.

"Have you ever been to the Paris Library?" I asked him, the horses began to slow down as they began to trek up the incline.

**Erik's POV**

"Yes, I have, why do you ask?" I inquired.

"Because remember what you said earlier, about that feeling that we have met before, I thought so as well." She reminded me.

"Yes I remember." I told her.

"When did you go the Library and what book did you borrow?" Annabelle asked. I thought on this for a good three and a half minutes before I answered.

"Two years ago, just before closing time; I had just returned a collection of poems by Edgar Allan Poe and I was borrowing a collection of works by John Milton (look him up, he is known for writing "Paradise Lost") I remember her eyes, only her eyes, they looked much like your eyes except her eyes were so red, from crying or from dust I did not inquire but I never forgot." I told her. She sifted through her memory which didn't take as long as I had expected it to.

"That was me; the woman you had seen two years ago was me. I was crying, earlier that day before I had to go to work, a man who came to adopt with his wife had hit _my_ Lily while the orphanage owner was showing his wife the other children; I had been walking past when I heard it and then I heard _my _Lily crying. I had immediately kicked down the door, punched the man in the face, took Lily in my arms and then ran out of the room. Before I left for work I was told that I was almost kicked out of the orphanage, I was almost separated from _my _Lily. She was only three years old at the time, just a baby; I broke my promise a little bit to Marianna that day." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes.

We head reached the top of the hill, I pulled out my pocket watch to check the time; there was only four hours till dawn and we needed to find shelter. And soon.

**Annabelle's POV**

"If it was me in that situation I would have killed that man where he stood." Erik said seriously, I nodded as I looked out in the valley below us, looking for a place for us to rest.

"You are a good man Erik and I can tell that this is not only the start of an adventure but also the start of a beautiful friendship." I took Erik's hand in mine and smiled gently at him. He grinned back at me.

"You have a handsome smile Erik." I commented.

"And yours, mademoiselle, is stunning." He returned then looked down at Lily.

"Before we head down I would like to ask if we could alternate riding with Lily, I can see that we should probably find somewhere to rest but you seem more tired than I." he said and he was right, I was almost falling asleep. I nodded and unstrapped Lily from myself and Erik brought Caesar closer to Atticus, surprisingly Lily did not wake as Erik gently took her from my embrace and sat her in front of him, securing her body as I had before.

"Thank you Erik." I said quietly. He nodded and we began our descent down the hill together.

**Erik's POV**

We found a small cave not far from a nearby stream. I gently got myself and Lily off of Caesar's saddle then assisted Annabelle off of Atticus and handed Lily over to her. She cradled the child close, letting her shoulder become a pillow for Lily's head.

After I tied the horses to a nearby tree I took off the saddle bags and brought them into the cave. Annabelle took hers with her free hand, opened it and pulled out two rolled up blankets; she shook loose the first one and laid it on the cave floor then placed the second roll on top leaving it as it was. The sleeping child was then gently placed on the roll and blanket. I knew the makeshift bed would be slightly uncomfortable for the child but there was nothing I could do.

"I'll take the first watch." Annabelle said as she got up; I stopped her.

"No, I will take the first watch; you need to rest for when we continue our journey tomorrow." I told her. She sighed and nodded.

"Very well then, I guess you are right, Thank you for everything Erik." She said.

"Don't thank me now; thank me when we reach our destination." I replied, smiling.

Annabelle smiled back at me then laid herself next to her child and fell asleep. This was a touching sight that I told myself that I would have to paint when we reached the sea.

_**A.N.**_

_**I'm back from the dead everyone, did you miss me? **_

_**If not then I don't want to hear it.**_

_**Disclaimer:**_

_**I OWN NOBODY EXCEPT FOR THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS.**_


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